Come Fly Away
by Warfang
Summary: Something that my mind came up with. Can be taken as serious or as crack. WARNING- themes of death, weirdness, use of OC to move the plot along, creative writing of Storm Hawks details, etc.


Remember in the Here kitty, kitty story blurb that there was a story in the works with bird forms? Yeah, this is that one.

Do not expect happiness ahead!

It is sad and may disagree with your views, such as implied threesome and homosexual relationships. You may notice that this has influence from Kansas 'Come Sail Away' and the movie 'Lady Hawk'. I own neither.

I do not own Storm Hawks! If I did, Dark Ace would only wear armor and a thong. *snicker* Good luck getting that image out of your head.

On with the story!

Master Cyclonis gazes across her realm. She had ruled for so long across the vast reaches of Atmosia. Soon, her descendant would carry on where she had failed.

Carrying the Cyclonian rule into the Far Side.

Cyclonis sighs and rests her head. She was so tired so often these days. The years of her life and the strain of ruling were beginning to show. She had aged beautifully, finally securing a husband that would serve her purposes.

Dark Ace had killed him shortly after her daughter was born.

Cyclonis gave a wry smile. She couldn't publicly thank Dark Ace, but she loathed the man the Council had chosen for her to ensure a strong line.

He daughter came into the room.

"How are you doing, mother?" She tenderly asked. Cyclonis raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, fine. If I have to explain how to work the new crystal matrix one more time, I'm going to slam the talons into a wall. Which may be appropriate display of power, but it just comes down to me not being able to hold my temper some days." She ranted.

Cyclonis chuckled. Her daughter was very precious to her.

"You will be a fine ruler. Try imagining them in their underwear next time. Looking contemptuous to the right degree is a good motivation tactic."

Her daughter hugged her.

"Thank you, mother."

Cyclonis hugged her back. "How are Stork and Junko?"

"They are doing excellent mother. I didn't know Wallops and Merbs could live for so long. I know you have to go, and I try not to get upset, but I'm going to miss you."

Cyclonis soothed her.

"Everything will be fine. You have outdone me in most regards. You have the two surviving Storm Hawks to guide you."

"Not to mention keep me free of mind worms and faulty ships."

Cyclonis laughed.

"And Dark Ace has found the perfect, loyal protector for you."

"Harrier's son? Mother, he does the dishes."

Cyclonis shook her head. "A thirst for adventure and purpose in life is the first step to a commitment."

"I trust you, mother."

"Just as I trust that you will be fine. It's nearly my time, now."

She hugged her daughter tighter. She hated to go, but she also couldn't wait. She would see them again.

* * *

><p>Hurri Cane, daughter of Cyclonis, left the room where her mother was staying. The old Master Cyclonis was still a fierce woman, and only allowed her gentle side to be seen by those she trusts.<p>

Not even the Night Crawlers thought her face could change from a cold mask of absolute command.

Hurri Cane walked down the hallways imperiously and arrived at the doors where Junko and Stork were going over the crowning ceremony with Dark Ace again.

"I still think the decorations look better if we do this." Dark Ace argued. "We can still put guards in the crowd so that they'll be on hand."

"Come on, Dark Ace, no one in Atmos hated Cyclonia. They have moved on to realize that this was for the best. It's not like this is totalitarian rule." Stork reminded him.

"Naw, it's a group of Sky Knights that serve the Cyclonian throne now." Junko put in. Their blue uniforms contrasted against Dark Ace's red and black one.

"But you are right. Someone from the Far Side might slip in and try to hurt our darling PRINCESS!" Stork screamed.

The others turned around. Hurri Cane smiled at them.

"I am going to be wearing my shield crystals, right?"

"Of course. But even with our specialists, the Far Side retains superior technology. I did tell you about the time your mother nearly stabbed me with a levitation crystal strong enough to move the entire Cyclonian terra, right?"

Hurri Cane shook her head, her black hair bobbing around her face. "No."

"Well, it was on one of her first trips over before the Great War we are still fighting began. The only way through was by the portal that was destroyed shortly before the Great War began, and thank Atmos for that."

"They can only get here through the lake or the cliffs or the Stratosphere." Stork reminded her. "Which is why the Neck Deeps, the Space Centers, and the Defense Line are so crucial to us."

"And it's why Atmos is united as she should be."

"Yeah, the history books forgot to mention that part. But now that that little misunderstanding is in the past, we can look forward to the future, of complete and total World Domination."

"We have already set the motion to secure the world and the war. All you have to do is win." Dark Ace murmured. He stared at her. "You are a powerful woman, and so will the Empire that serves you."

Hurri Cane studied him for a moment.

"You're going too."

"I was offered, yes. And I confess- I am going for very selfish reasons."

Hurri Cane grinned at him, the striking resemblance to her mother stopping his words.

"This world is not finite. I know that in the long run, I am but a thread upon the tapestry of life. And you will be the loom upon which the tapestry is woven. I'm actually glad for you." Her gentle words affected them profoundly.

"Besides, you will still be serving the glory of Cyclonia." She jabbed at him verbally.

"Ouch." Dark Ace retorted. "You have certainly studied well."

"Only from the best."

He grinned at her affectionately. He reached out and ruffled her hair.

Dark Ace still looked the same, carried himself the same, and talked just like the photo crystals showed him as back when her mother was just beginning to rule.

The only difference was the pendant he wore under his clothes and close to his heart. It was a grinning head, with teeth, on a flattened circular surface that he had looped a length of string through.

There were faint blue eyes that seemed perpetually fixed in a sneer on the crushed metal.

Hurri Cane nodded and strolled off to get ready for the ceremony- her mother's funeral.

* * *

><p>Princess Peregrine- now Queen with her own twin sons- was waiting to help Hurri Cane through the suffering of another fitting with the tailor. Even though Hurri Cane had accepted her mother's death, she had lost an alarming amount of weight.<p>

Princess Peregrine wore a veil over her head that hid the details of her face. Hurri Cane had figured all along that that was just something the Princess of Klockstoppia did.

They greeted each other and she set to distracting Hurri Cane, who was measured and threatened with another visit to the doctor if she dropped any more weight.

The ceremony arrived in a week. Cyclonis performed the ceremony to grant her daughter the full rights of the kingdom with the rising of the sun, and when the sun set, she walked to the edge of Cyclonia.

There she waited. The sun dipped lower in the sky, but had yet to touch the horizon. When the sky turned scarlet and the sun a golden blur, two cries shook the Terra.

A bird colored with blue plumage, a red head and golden wing tips the size of a teenager landed on the right side of the late Master Cyclonis.

A slightly smaller brown headed bird with blue plumage and golden wings landed her left side. They spread their wings around Cyclonis, and she vanished behind a curtain of feathers.

When the birds lowered their wings, a dark purple bird with black around the eyes stood where the late Master once was.

Without looking back, the three alighted to the sky.

Hurri Cane wished she could have said 'Good-bye'.

But the ceremony was not for farewell, but the rebirth of Cyclonia, what was once known as Atmos, world of a thousand mountain tops.

* * *

><p>Once the vow of silence ended, Dark Ace said farewell to his home of nearly fifty years. He hugged the remaining Storm Hawks and wished them well with creating the new squadron.<p>

He threatened Harrier's son, Squalor, who reassured him that for so long as Hurri Cane lived, he would protect her.

Dark Ace then left. He brought little provisions and flew off on his ancient Skimmer, ancient by the strides that the war had brought them.

He still preferred the armored design over a lighter craft able to sway and dance as a leaf upon the wind.

He landed at Terra Vapos within three days.

The aged King came to greet him. Dark Ace paid his respects and accepted their offering of lodgings before he underwent his trials.

To succeed the Domo and take his place at his side, he needed to kill the Verrocs that lived under Terra Vapos once and for all.

It was after he had entered the rock slide that he began to remember how everything happened.

* * *

><p>The Storm Hawks had followed them into the Far Side. There, Cyclonis became something of a Demi God, worshipped by the people.<p>

She never let them know that it was actually her superior knowledge of how Crystals worked was what made her better than them.

He was revered as a sort of priest. Rather than have the followers throw themselves at him, he pretended that as the Goddess' priest, that he couldn't be involved with just anyone.

The Storm Hawks found them after a year of searching. By then, Cyclonis had her own following, and the Storm Hawks had theirs.

It was the battle not to end the war, but to bring Cyclonis down.

They fought for as long as they could, but neither side was winning. Then Cyclonis was betrayed. One of the maidens who served her tricked her into breaking a sacred law, and the Storm Hawks came in to rescue them.

He had been ready to die to help her escape. Stupid marksman and his stupid aim, bringing the entire temple down on everyone.

"They aren't even human! They're Verrocs!" At the time, he had no idea what the marksman was talking about. But it turned out that none of the servants were human. Instead, they were intelligent beasts that were interested in using Cyclonis as a way past the cliffs and turning the whole of Atmos into a never ending buffet.

The Storm Hawks escaped with Master Cyclonis through a portal back into the other side- without him and the marksman.

Spend three months with a cocky adolescent that keeps saving your life and never shut ups- anyone would make the same mistake.

He fell in love for him. Blonde hair, blue eyes, a cocky mouth that wrapped beautiful lips around his length and sucked after they were nearly killed one day.

He never got the chance to reciprocate the action. But he did return the feelings. He let Finn know every waking moment that he thought of him.

He just wished that he had the sense to realize something was off that morning. That he hadn't let Finn offer to cook breakfast. That he had known they were resting by a Verroc nest.

He had returned to Finn ripped limb from limb, and devoured.

He only remembers everything going black. When he is dragged onto the Condor that had finally made its way back after four months, Aerrow brings what is left of the body for burial.

The body disappears when they move through the portal.

No one knows the hell why. He was in such a bad shape mentally that Cyclonis refused to leave him for anything.

She still worried that he'll kill himself.

Which, he ironically reflects as he pulls himself out of his musings to check his rapid descent, he is.

Finally, during a battle to drive back the beasts that were coming through the cliffs, a bird with a golden crest and blue plumage dove into the battle and turns the war in their favor.

Dark Ace cries that night. He doesn't know why.

* * *

><p>Then Piper and Aerrow sacrifice themselves a year later to turn back the suicide attempt the Far Side mounted on Atmos. The sheer numbers would have turned the entire Atmos into a cage.<p>

Cyclonis numbly tells him that she was going to confess to the two of them that she was pregnant.

She holds the child until she's married. Dark Ace kills the man when he insinuates that Cyclonis had the child with another man.

Perhaps it's the fact that Hurri Cane's eyes are a deep green on purple that nearly gives her away.

The first of the Verrocs notice him. They begin to scream in rage and attack him. But Dark Ace roars out a challenge that he has been wishing for since he lost Finn-

I will find you.

* * *

><p>He lost count after thirty-two. All he knows is that when is done, he will have his greatest wish granted.<p>

When the last Verroc drops dead, Dark Ace seals the end of the tunnel from the Far Side, even though it is pointless, for nothing that becomes part of Terra Vapos can leave. But he's so far away, that when he lays down in the darkness, he can't feel anything.

He awakes to lips on his. A soft kiss, before breath is forced into his lungs. Finn is there, laying over him. His blue eyes gleam in the darkness, an internal light glowing through his skin.

He doesn't speak. His voice was lost when he refused to cry out and endanger Dark Ace as well from the ambush. Dark Ace kisses Finn back, his throat burning, before a harsh, guttural scream works its way out of him.

Finn is mute. But Dark Ace can't speak anymore either.

What they have to say doesn't need words. Their hands flow over each other, a silent promise that from now on, there will be time to hold each other for forever.

* * *

><p>The aging Mystic and Ayrgyrn stand in the tree, watching the new arrival of who once was the most powerful leader of all of Atmos.<p>

Cyclonis is learning to strengthen her wings, while Aerrow coaxes her to new heights. Piper trains under the second mystic in watching Atmos, but she also practices watching her companions out of the Corner of her eyes.

The Oracle drops by for a visit.

"So I see the new generation of protectors has come to be."

The Mystic nods. Ayrgyrn sighs.

"I wish you guys wouldn't go. I'm going to miss you."

"And we will miss you, Ayrgyrn, trainer of Heroes. But you chose the position to guide the younger generations when we passed away."

Ayrgyrn nods and represses the sniffles that threaten to overcome him. Atmos once was part of a much wider world. In fact, the whole region was once only one-fifth of the whole world. But as history is want to do, the ones that held the balance were destroyed.

There were few left that could transform into Byrds anymore. To have found so many willing to give up their lives for the peace of the future…

Ayrgyrn doesn't regret that he chose to stay behind in this world. He wishes the Mystics well.

* * *

><p>Piper winces as she turns back into her old form. Standing on two legs after her wings carried her back to their home still throws her, but not as badly anymore.<p>

Aerrow's in the kitchen, tossing some fruit together in a salad with spices and a generous amount of honey and juice.

Cyclonis is panting, trying to sort out if she needs to take in more air or not in this form after all of the exertion.

Finally, she stops heaving and tries taking deep, regular breaths. Aerrow and Piper grin. Cyclonis rolls her eyes at them.

"You are so not telling Dark Ace when he gets back."

"Oh, he's not going to be back for awhile." Piper grins. Aerrow sighs. He doesn't see what Piper likes so much about Finn being romantically involved with Dark Ace. Sure, there aren't any rules against it, but does she have to be so…open about their relationship?

Aerrow stops himself before his brain begins to hurt. If Piper finds them cute, that's her deal. He just wants Dark Ace to treat Finn well.

Cyclonis purrs and walks over to Piper.

"I do believe that there was something I never expressed in words before."

Piper raises an eyebrow. Then she slides a leg between Cyclonis' and tilts her backwards. "If you were going to say 'I love you', then the feeling is mutual, sweetheart."

Behind the counter, Aerrow rolls his eyes and finishes tossing the salad. Then he grabs the bowl and opens the bedroom door.

"You two coming, or am I getting to watch this time?"

Dark Ace stretches out his black wings. In fact, there's no red on him at all. He's completely black, all the way through.

Well, that's not quite true.

He has red eyes. Finn loops another circle around him, before Dark Ace banks to try and catch him. The downside to his powerful body is that he isn't as agile as his lover.

* * *

><p>But that was a tradeoff he could handle when their home comes into view.<p>

The tree hidden under the fog of the Wastelands is huge, and provides shelters for the Byrds. Ayrgyrn lives of in the Western section, but visits regularly to train them. Aerrow, Piper, and Cyclonis live in the Northern section.

Finn guides Dark Ace over to the Eastern Section, and shyly displays the nest he built for them.

They fall asleep, tucked around each other.

Tomorrow, protecting Cyclonia from being destroyed in a Great War begins. Tomorrow, they take the first steps into eternity. Tomorrow, they wake up to Ayrgyrn asking them to leave a sign when to not come into their room after a night together.

Dark Ace will speechlessly sign back that that would be every night.

* * *

><p>AN: This has been in my computer since I posted the beginning of Here, kitty, kitty. I only now remember about it? Sheesh. Anyway, review to tell me just how weird it was.

….is that image of Dark Ace in a thong still in your head?


End file.
